Citation

If you use pyRVT in your research or work, please cite it appropriately.

Software Citation

For general use of the pyRVT software, please cite:

Kottke, Albert R. (Year). pyRVT: A Python library for random vibration theory calculations. Version X.X.X. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3630729

BibTeX entry:

@software{kottke_pyrvt,
  author = {Kottke, Albert R.},
  title = {pyRVT: A Python library for random vibration theory calculations},
  url = {https://github.com/arkottke/pyrvt},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.3630729},
  version = {0.7.3},
  year = {2024}
}

Peak Factor Models

When using specific peak factor models implemented in pyRVT, please also cite the original research:

Vanmarcke (1975)

Vanmarcke, E. H. (1975). On the distribution of the first-passage time for normal stationary random processes. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 42(1), 215-220.

Boore and Thompson (2015)

Boore, D. M., & Thompson, E. M. (2015). Revisions to some parameters used in stochastic-method simulations of ground motion. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 105(2A), 1029-1041.

Wang and Rathje (2018)

Wang, S., & Rathje, E. M. (2018). Evaluation of the single-degree-of-freedom approximation in the peak factor method for random vibration theory based seismic hazard analysis. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 47(14), 2755-2771.

Seifried et al. (2025)

Seifried, A., Coppersmith, K. J., & Kottke, A. R. (2025). An updated peak factor model for random vibration theory based seismic hazard analysis. Earthquake Spectra (in press).

Contributing to Citations

If you’ve published work using pyRVT, we’d love to hear about it! Please:

  1. Let us know by creating an issue or discussion on GitHub

  2. Include a link to your publication if it’s publicly available

  3. Consider contributing example code or documentation based on your use case

Academic Use Guidelines

For Student Work:

Students using pyRVT should cite both the software and the underlying scientific methods. Understanding the theoretical background is important for proper application.

For Research Publications:

In addition to citing pyRVT, please cite the original papers for any specific peak factor models or methods used. This gives proper credit to the researchers who developed these methods.

For Reports and Applications:

When using pyRVT in consulting or engineering reports, citing the software helps ensure reproducibility and allows others to verify your calculations.

Acknowledgments

pyRVT development has been supported by various organizations and individuals:

  • University research projects

  • Open-source community contributions

  • Feedback and testing from users worldwide

  • Scientific collaborations and peer review

The development of pyRVT builds on decades of research in random vibration theory and earthquake engineering by many researchers worldwide.

DOI and Versioning

Each release of pyRVT receives a unique DOI through Zenodo. For reproducibility, please specify the version number when citing pyRVT in your work.

The main DOI (10.5281/zenodo.3630729) always resolves to the latest version, while version-specific DOIs are also available for citing specific releases.

Questions about Citations

If you have questions about how to cite pyRVT or need help with bibliographic formatting:

  1. Check the documentation for citation examples

  2. Create an issue on GitHub if you need specific guidance

  3. Contact the maintainers through the GitHub repository

Thank you for using pyRVT and contributing to open science!